Just Another Day
by the immortal slice of pie
Summary: Sleep deprivation and an Apocalypse on the horizon are starting to drive Clark crazy. Clark/Lois


"I'm right here in front of you,

and I can't stop sh-sh-shaking

I can't stop sh-sh-shaking -

come on and hold me still."

_-Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money, Pigs Get Slaughtered-_

~Chiodos~

* * *

"The conference has begun."

There were some hasty clicking noises. The flash of a photographer's camera went off; many more followed.

When the impromptu photo session ended, the people fought to speak. Their rush of voices filled up City Hall.

"Sir, sir - over here!" A male reporter vied for his attention. "Is it true that Manhattan was burned down? Why didn't Super -"

"People have been saying that electricity along the entire West Coast is gone," another one interrupted. "Where was Su -"

"Sir, a nuclear reactor went off in Brazil last Tuesday, yet the warning signs were obvious. Why didn't Super -"

"One of my sources said that the death toll in France has doubled because of the earthquakes, but there was no intervention whatsoever from Super -"

"The rumors aren't true, are they?" yelled a woman in the audience. "Superman isn't -"

"Wasn't he supposed to be invincible?" asked a journalist. "His only weakness -"

"The President released a statement that all kryptonite on Earth was gone!" a man somewhere shouted.

A dozen people nodded their heads.

"Did our leader lie to us?"

"The government thinks they control everything, do they?"

"Freedom is dead! Our country's gone to d -"

"What are we going to do now? Wh - "

"Why was the Senator kidnapped?"

"Did Congress really disappear?"

"What's going to happen to our jobs?"

"I have a family to take care of, somebody better -"

"What about food? Housing? Elec -"

"Is there still an army? Are we still protected -"

"Where _is_ the army?"

"What about the navy?"

"Where's the air force?"

"Where's -"

"What about -"

_"Superman is gone,_" shouted Richard.

And those three words held the force of a bomb. It had been loud before - now it was utter chaos.

Photographers dropped their devices in shock. Parents screamed. Several people collapsed on the spot. And then everyone began speaking at once. People were crying, praying, grabbing at their cellphones, refusing to believe the truth.

"Mr. White, is this true?" hissed the police-officer behind him. "Please tell me this is some kind of sick -"

Richard shook his head.

"Please," he said desperately. "No more questions. I need everyone to calm down."

No one heard his plea.

"I need everyone to calm down," he repeated. Same wretched, despairing tone. Same level of voice.

No soul heard him speak.

So, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out something he had never planned to use. He cocked it, pointed it overhead, and fired. The release of the bullet shuddered through City Hall.

Over seven hundred pairs of eyes looked to him.

"Shut up - all of you!" Richard screamed. A startled, blank silence met his insanity, and _"click. click. click." _went the heels of his shoes as walked up to the microphone.

He cleared his throat.

_"Superman is dead. Earth is under siege. War has begun."_

More terrified silence.

"..."

He locked eyes with a little African American girl. Her hair was in two, sweet braids and her thumb was in her mouth. Her other free hand was tightly clutching the dress of her sobbing mother.

"..."

They needed a leader.

"...I..."

His face contorted at the weight of his thoughts. And his gaze traveled around the hall.

Families, couples, lovers, friends - all innocent. All with separate stories. All who deserved to live. There was nothing more he'd rather do than help them, than to rekindle their hope -

but they needed Superman. His throat tightened up and his eyes turned glassy.

"I...I can't do this," he choked out, ran from the stage.

* * *

"If you're still alive

my regrets are few

if my life is mine

what shouldn't I do?"

_-Help I'm Alive-_

~Metric~

* * *

Lex Luthor had always wondered what Death looked like.

Now, facing it, Lex understood.

He stared into Death's eyes.

They were bloodshot - red streams on a broken blue mirror; scarlet cuts on turquoise river - and they trembled from loss, glowed luminescent and dripped with pain. They moaned something; the same words, over and over, over and over.

_"Why, Luthor? Why did you do it?"_

It was a good question, agreed Luthor. Why had he done it? Why had he detonated the explosives? Why had he killed all those people?

That childish, immature relish he'd always felt in the past: whenever he'd seen Superman bleed, or people scream for mercy, or a mountain of diamonds glint and reflect his own greed - all of that, all of the simplistic, sadistic joy of just being..._bad_... ... ...was gone. He saw no future, no sanctity, no infinity in what he'd been doing.

But this realization had arrived ten thousand deaths too late.

* * *

"And now all your love is wasted,

then who the hell was I?

'cause now I'm breaking at the britches

and at the end of all your lines."

_-Skinny Love-_

~Birdy~

* * *

_"Now I know you've probably heard the rumors - that I, shy country bumpkin, have a crush on you, Pulitzer Prize winner._

_"Well, it's true. Ms. Lane, I adore you. I love you. I love you._

_"I love you more than anyone else ever possibly could. I love you and everything about you. I love your spirit, I love the way you laugh - the way you toss your head back and part your lips and let the sweetest, highest music drift out of your throat. I love your voice, I love your attitude; I love your strength, your ferocity, and your pride. I love the way your cheeks flush pink whenever you get embarrassed and how fast you are to defend your mistakes._

_"I love how you can't ever spell anything properly. I find it incredibly ironic that such an intelligent woman doesn't know the difference between 'their' and 'they're.' I love how vicious you become when someone insults your friends. I love the look of pure bloodlust that hits your eyes right before you start cursing out Perry._

_"I also love how bright your eyes turn in moments of joy. When your smile lights up the room like the stars do to the night. I love how warm, how brilliant, how sunny it is. And I love the way your skin glistens in the rain, how soft it is to the touch. Holding you in my arms is one of the best sensations to ever grace my life._

_"I love the way you say my name. Short, sweet, and to the point. There's affection and friendship behind those two short syllables, 'Clark Kent.' Your voice is a perfect fit for my name._

_"More than just your voice and your looks - it's your ability to stand tall and reckless in spite of the danger that captivated me from the start._

_"Yes, the start. The very start. When I walked into the Daily Planet for the first time and I gracelessly entered Perry's office, and I heard the precision in your speech, the strength and the passion driving each word to the surface._

_"Your beauty and your unmatched fire has kept me going for many years. For that, I thank you."_

* * *

"Don't tell me it's too hard,

you were never there from the start,

I'm not about to give this up

giving up was never enough."

_-Wasting Away-_

~Tonight Alive~

* * *

Lois Lane couldn't believe her eyes when she reached work that morning - for as she slid from her taxi's doors and fumbled to sweep up her papers once she was safely off the road, the sounds of screaming and explosions punctuated her ear dreams.

"What the hell -" Miss Lane dropped her meaningless paperwork on the sidewalk and gaped up at the sky. Smoke had risen suddenly, out of the blue, and could be traced three blocks down to where the _Daily Planet_ was located. Forgetting the fact that she was wearing heels, Lois broke into a sprint. She headed for the familiar building but was the only person running in that direction. It seemed as though everyone else was trying to get away from the chaos.

She clawed her way through the waves of terrified citizens. Many people screamed at her to move out of the way, but she was determined to reach her destination - however, when she finally did - when she survived the possible risk of being trampled to death and ended up standing drunkenly at the marble steps of the burning _Planet _- a blank thought struck her:

_Okay, so what the fuck do I do, now?_

She stood still, dazed from the realization. Then she felt her throat start to close up.

_Cool it, Lane._ She spat at herself. _You panic now and you'll get fucked up. Okay. Okay. Okay. All you need to do is sort out what the hell's happening._

_Okay. Okay. Okay - oh, God - so the _Planet's_ on fire, but I have no fucking clue why it is. The sirens in the back are telling me that ambulances and firetrucks are coming. And it's still - _she glanced at the watch on her wrist - _7:53 AM, so there probably aren't that many people in the building. Okay. That's not so bad - but, wait. Fucking shit! Perry always gets here before I do, remember? And Jimmy can be overeager sometimes and arrive an hour early! The custodians are almost always here, and, fuck everything, so are the receptionists and elevator workers! And what about the college interns that always come at fucking 5 AM? Overzealous fuckers are going to end up dead because of their goddamn happy-go-lucky attitude. Fuck fuck fuck fuck! I can't do anything right now! And wait, what about - wait, wait, wait, stop panicking, Lois. Recall that Richard's okay; he went to go drop off Jason at school. Be happy that they're - sonofabitch! How can I be happy at a time like this? All my coworkers are probably roasting alive and I'm trying to be fucking happy? They don't deserve to die! They're all so fucking young and innocent and naive - oh, God. Naive. Kent is the most naive fucker working at the_ _Planet, he probably locked himself in a closet by accident. For fuck's sake, Kent's probably dead by now because of how stupid he is. Bumbling, idiotic, countryside fool - wait, what the hell am I saying? Kent? Dead? Jimmy? Perry? Everyone else? Oh, God, this isn't good. This isn't good at all. And I can't do shit about it, either. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!_

She hadn't realized it, but she was hyperventilating.

"Hey, Lady!" One of the men running out of the _Planet _shouted at her. "You better move 'cause the place is comin' down fast!"

"Oh - woah, wait -" Lois blinked in surprise. She unfroze and tuned back into her surroundings and -

_Motherfucking hell. _

During the short few minutes that she'd spent mulling over her depressing thoughts, things had gotten a lot worse. Her hands began to shake.

The faint gray smoke had turned into these sinister plumes of black and the sirens of the firetrucks had become blotted out by the undeniable, bone-trembling shattering noises coming from within the _Planet._

What was on earth was happening? One moment, it seemed, she'd been reading Jason "Charlotte's Web" in a rocking chair, the next, she was caught in this hellish, fiery scene.

Lois looked up at the morning sky.

Its emptiness disturbed her.

* * *

**A/N:** I haven't written any sort of fanfiction since april, I think. holy balls.


End file.
